Grim Encounters
by Ordos Yama
Summary: In the Grim Darkness of the 41st Millennium: there is only constant war and death. The Imperium struggles to stand strong. The Eldar strive for survival. The Tau seek out their destiny. The Necrons move to reclaim their former glory. The Tyranids continue consuming to sate their endless hunger. De Orks go WAAAAGHH!. The Citadel just doesn't have enough dakka.
1. Tau

**This will mostly be a bunch of first contact scenerios that I could imagine with the races of 40k. I would write the rest but I doubt my ability to make a complete fic. If anyone wants to continue on with them though; they are free to do so. Since english isn't my native language, I'll apologise now for any errors in grammar and such.**

* * *

Shas'O T'au Kais followed his mentor and commander: Aun'El T'au Shi'Ores closely by step as they entered the grand chamber that held the Council of Ethereals, the highest authority and power within the Tau Empire. This was the beating heart of the Empire and it was they who were charged to lead the Tau to greatness. His decorative armour reflected this important occasion, if not for these formal meetings, he would spend the rest of his life in real combat gear or in his battlesuit.

Still, this day was out of the normal. Nowhere in sight was the usual throngs of the Water Caste on the upper levels as they filmed the meetings for the entire Empire to share. The lower level was likewise empty of the mass of Ethereals and high ranking members of Fire, Earth, Water and Air Castes. Indeed, aside from themselves, only the Aun'O and his closest advisors seemed present centred in the middle of the hall. Having been present in the past during its more prime times, 'O Kais found the emptiness and relative quiet discomforting.

As Shi'Ores came to an abrupt halt before the dais where Aun'va, the Ethereal Supreme and Aun'O, he snapped to attention just ahead of the four Shas'Vre's that made up Shi'Ores's honour guard. He could see the admiration in the eyes of his Shas'Vre's; for before them was not just a single Aun but several of the highest within the entirety of the Empire, a sight which few Tau will ever see. His old honour guard would not have done so but they unfortunately perished serving the Greater Good in the re-capture of Kronus.

As Shi'Ores had been his mentor and close friend for many years now, 'O Kais was not so affected by the overwhelming aura that the Aun's exuded. Enough so that he could still find the will in him to offer capable and competent advice rather than simple blind agreement. Zeal for the Greater Good was a fine weapon when tempered with precise planning.

"Aun'El T'au Shi'Ores, Shas'O T'au Kais; I must commend you for your victory on the world of Kronus for the Greater Good." The Aun'Va passively congratulated Shi'Ores with a polite but brief clap of hands that was soon joined by the other Ethereals. 'O Kais stiffened his spine in pride at the mention of his name, but kept his face completely neutral. It was only for the Greater Good.

"Our thanks Aun'O." Shi'Ores politely responded for them both. Aun'Va inclined his head in acknowledgment as an indication of accepting the thanks.

"It is in fact, your stellar performance that has this Council nominate you for this new task." Aun'Va announced; slowly pressing buttons on a blue holographic screen, he brought up a large holographic image that appeared directly above and behind him drawing everyone's attention to it. The main interest of the large image was easily identified. There; drifting in the dark tides of space were two long thin objects that were obviously artificial.

But whereas one was brimming with a bright blue energy, the other was dark and silent as it brooded behind its glowing sibling. They were nothing like they had ever seen; it was clearly not of Tau origin and lacked the clunky industrial look or the makeshift form that marred Imperium and Ork constructs. While it bore some resemblance to the smooth aesthetic of the Eldar it paled in comparison to the admittedly beautiful work of the ancient race.

Despite his inability to manufacture an answer to the origin of the constructs; 'O Kais's mind was already piecing together what manner of task that Aun'Va intended for them to perform. The last time that the Empire had been able to discover, salvage and reverse engineer unknown alien technology; the Empire had been able to embark on a glorious phase of Expansion which allowed the Tau Empire to take the first step to its destiny. If this construct was even half the value of their earlier discovery, the Empire would surely flourish.

"A Nicassar exploration fleet discovered this on the fringe of the Tash'Var Sept. Upon discovery both relics were in what appears to be an inactive state. The Nicassar managed to activate one of the relics and from experiments performed on site; they believe that these relics offer a means of Faster than light travel that far surpasses our current technology. The Nicassar themselves, had travelled the equivalent distance of Tash'Var to T'au in an instant." Aun'Va offered a lengthy recap of events. When he finished, neither Shi'Ores nor 'O Kais spoke.

'O Kais had never been invested enough interest in the Empire's means of intergalactic space travel to learn the inner workings of it. He just knew, despite the silence of the Water Caste in this matter, that their FTL was poorer than the Imperiums and that it was one of the main limiters on the Empire that prevented it from expanding too far before resources would be stretched too thin. But to travel the distance of T'au to Tash'Var in an instant instead of the lengthy period it would require otherwise…

"I believe you can understand the importance of these relics to the Empire." Aun'Va assumed. 'O Kais could only manage a slight nod in response, the implications of this device was clear. The advantages they could have from analysing and producing similar constructs thus speeding up their own space flight significantly could revolutionise the Empire and spark a Fourth Sphere of Expansion.

"Of course, Aun'O. We will claim it for the Greater Good." Shi'Ores impeccably replied. As expected, Shi'Ores had also deduced the task that the Aun'O wished for them to perform.

The Aun'O nodded and with a graceful swipe of his hand, he brought up a new screen filled with long lists in pale white lettering that contrasted with the deep blue screen. Recognising the lists as a record of all the assets that will be made available to them, he widened his eyes slightly at the sheer amount that Shi'Ores would have command of.

Two full T'au and one Tash'Vor fleets comparable to the one they used for the re-capture of Kronus; fit with the latest and most powerful of the Kor'Vatta. And while he hadn't counted it yet; there was at least one hundred Hunter Cadres, including Kroot and Vespid auxiliaries, for him to command. But while he could understand the need for excess amounts of vessels, he failed to decipher why such a large ground force was necessary.

"Good. Though not under your command, Aun'Vre Fal'Shia Vash shall be leading a Fal'Shia fleet to construct a station by the constructs. You are to provide protection for them from any threat n his face at the mention of Orks. He had perhaps found a reason for all the ground forces.

Shas'O Kais gratefully sighed in relief upon seeing that there was nothing waiting for them except the darkness of space and the two still constructs. In an odd and possibly fatal mistake, the Custodian Class Mon Mesme was sent into FTL slightly earlier than the rest of T'au fleets. While the 5 km battleship was a formidable vessel to be sure, even it could be overwhelmed by sheer number of which Orks always had aplenty of. Even if there was no disaster this time around, such mistakes were

Leaving the disciplining of the erring crew member up to Kor'O T'au Elan, he focused his undivided attention to the constructs. They were vastly larger than any vessel of the Kor'Vatta yet couldn't compare to the size of the largest of Tau stations. The constant revolving of the rings that sheltered the glowing blue aura was mesmerizing as he watched.

He snapped back to reality upon hearing the excited voice of the Kor'O call out orders for the ship to close the distance to the inactive construct. He could not see any benefits in moving their sole vessel closer to the construct, which to his meagre understanding, could bring forth whoever was on the other side in an instant. Though, he was not versed in space navigation and tactics so he left it to 'O Elan to decide.

Tapping into an earpiece he used for communications, he connected to the special channel reserved for the Ethereals and only the highest ranking of the other Castes. As Kor'O Elan was busying himself with moving the Mon Mesme towards the construct, it was not unexpected to hear the channel empty of chatter until Shi'Ores himself tapped in.

"Shi'Ores, we've arrived in the system and are now moving onto the constructs." 'O Kais dutifully reported in for the Aun. No doubt, Shi'Ores would be most interested in seeing these constructs personally with his own eyes.

"Very well, I shall be at the bridge shortly." The Aun'El replied before the comm went silent. With nothing else left to do and being unable to help here on a ship, he resigned himself to watch space and all the infinite small stars that twinkled in the blackest of nights.

"Kor'O, contacts detected!" 'O Kais heard from one of the operators shout out from the mass of other operators working on the electronic terminals and blue holographic screens. Swiftly directing his eyes to the space ahead of them, he failed to see anything of these contacts at all; they weren't facing the right way!

"Where?" the Kor'O demanded from the operator. Already at the warning, the conditioned training of the Kor'Vatta kicked in for everyone else. The relatively calm pace that the Air Caste crew were working at before was now thrown off for a more attentive and tense poise for what was to come. They had no idea whether these contacts were friendly or hostile; but given everything 'O Kais knew about the races of the universe, there were exceedingly far more hostile than friendly species.

"Fourteen vessels approaching from the active construct, Kor'O." the same operator called out.

"Bring it to view." Elan commanded in a loud voice.

A large holographic screen blinked into life in front of him and the Kor'O. There in view were indeed at least forty space faring ships of unknown origin. The ships had a silvery, smooth sleek design that slightly reminded him of the wraithbone constructs of the Eldar, yet felt lacking compared to it. In fact, they did not look like anything he had ever seen in a ship: the impractical crudeness of the Orks, the eerie green lights of the Necrons or the religious structural design of the Imperials.

And staring right at the 5km from the bridge of his own dreadnought was Turian Admiral Aemilius. Being an Admiral of the Turian Hierarchy, it was both his duty and his job to think before jumping headfirst into a fight. And currently, the cogs in his head were churning with new information as he processed them.

The mission assigned to him from the Turian Hierarchy, and thus by extension the Citadel Council, had ordered him to investigate the sudden activation of a relay in the Crescent System against Council Law and to punish the wrongdoers. Of course, that order was given under the assumption that the instigators were the run of the mill pirates and slavers.

Yet the ridiculously sized ship before him was clearly beyond mere pirates. It was at least twice as big as the Destiny Asccension and the numerous weapon ports suggested that it was a warship of some kind. But who deploys a dreadnought independently and without any form of support from other ships?

Then perhaps the ship wasn't a dreadnought to the aliens and was rather a common patrol ship. Just envisioning the size and power of the alien's _real_ battleships was a terrifying thought.

"Admiral. This is Captain Quintus. Requesting permission to open fire on the violating ship." He heard the message over comms from one of the captains of the fleet's cruisers.

"Denied." He slammed down on the captain. They were Turian _Peacekeepers_ and attacking an unknown alien vessel over a law they logically would not be aware of did not advocate peace in the least. They were not trigger happy incompetents that went about starting wars!

Still… he still had to come up with how to deal with this situation. He had not planned for a first contact scenario and had no provisions for it either. Spirits… but he was a military man and he had no idea of how to go about a diplomatic venture with an alien race.

"But sir, they are in violation of the Council Law." Captain Quintus objected over comms again. His outbursts were not really helping him think at on how to approach the situation in the least.

"Think for a moment Captain Quintus. Do you really think aliens who had never met the Citadel could know of the law?" Admiral Aemilius rhetorically asked, in a vain hope to quieten the captain down.

"Not being aware of the Citadel Law is no excuse for breaking them!" the good captain now loudly declared. Aemilius sighed in exasperation and resisted the urge to shout back at the idiot.

"So… you are proposing we start shooting at oversized alien dreadnought when we know nothing about its capabilities or technology." Aemilius asked skeptically. If so then he questions how the good captain managed to get his rank.

There was a good long pause before his question. No doubt, the good captain was taking in the size of the ship and the rather large guns now trained on them. Perhaps that would persuade him that attacking was a bad idea and get him to shut up.

"…My ship's scanners are picking up no Eezo on board." Captain Quintus suddenly said. No eezo? And interesting tidbit though one could already suspect that these aliens were different since they managed to get to this system without a relay in the first place.

"And…?" for he was sure that the good captain had something to add.

"I imagine that, despite the size, the aliens are in actuality primitive. Quality over quantity." The captain argued. Aemilius scoffed at the words; he had forty ships in his fleet and they were more than enough for one oversized dreadnought. But it was the consequences of such that gave him pause.

"Captain Quintus, consider for a moment on how the alien ship arrived in the system and remember that we came through the only open relay." Captain Artillius, commander of one of his frigates, interjected for him. It was comforting to know that there were still others who possessed common sense.

Because really; this system seemed to have nothing but rocks and asteroids. The only unique features was that it had two relays; one of which they came through. Now, a perceptive Turian would have picked up on that there was no way that the alien could have arrived here unless they either travelled here slowly with STL or they had alternates means of FTL outside of relays. Both of which raised them above the 'primitive' levels.

"Admiral! I'm detecting several new ships!" a crewman shouted out from his station. He knew that his fleet was not meant to be receiving reinforcements so that most likely meant…

Without a word, he signalled for the new arrivals to be brought on screen, already have a foreboding for who they were going to be. Unsurprisingly, he found out where the rest of the alien fleet was.

The new arrivals had the same tan gold colour scheme and a similar design to the oversized dreadnought; favouring plain and simplistic aesthetics. Counting them quickly, he noted that his fleet still had numerical superiority if by just. Though, he sourly added, that would hardly matter since just about all of them fell into a dreadnought classification.

"So… Captain Quintus, do you still think we can easily crush these 'primitives'?" Captain Artillius snidely remarked, trying to sound calm despite the obvious tension in his voice. And at least for his credit, the good captain finally had nothing else to say.

And even if for whatever Spirit begotten reason, it was silenced with the sudden 'appearance' of yet another alien fleet. Oddly enough, while it shared the same design of the others, this new fleet had a muddy brown green colour scheme though the new ships overall seem to be working in coherence with the gold tan one. Spirits… but that was a lot of dreadnoughts…

"Sir! The first alien ship is releasing something out of what appears to be a hanger." Turning his attention back the screen with the live feed of the first oversized dreadnought, he easily spotted something small, round and of the same tan gold hurtling out the side of the ship.

"…and exploration drone, Aun'El. Designed and produced by a cooperation between the Water and Earth Castes and put to use by the Air Caste. Its intent is to allow the Empire to spread the creed of the Greater Good and to smoothen contact with other races. It has all the very basic data necessary to facilitate an understanding with new races." Kor'O Elan finished his lengthy explanation of the drone with a long breath.

The tension and apprehension in the air was understandably less heavy on the bridge. This was in part, due to the arrival of not just their own fleet but also the Tash'Var fleet as well. But it was the very presence of Aun'El that brought about this calming effect on the otherwise worried and stressed crew.

"Excellent." Shi'Ores commented with but a single word. But this word was enough to get 'O Elan to straighten himself up in pride with the simple praise. 'O Kais watched on impassively, he had been doing this for a lot of time recently. He felt… empty without something to occupy his mind.

He ignored the sounds of satisfaction and success of the crew as the drone was peacefully picked up by the alien fleet. It was a momentary and short celebration as the hours passed with no interaction with the alien fleet.

It was approximately eight standard hours and 46 standard minutes before the Tau finally got a response in the form a disjointed archaic communication used in the First Sphere of Expansion.

_This Turian 46 fleet. We approach peace. Identify unknown fleet._

_This is T'au Four Fifth Fleet of the Tau Empire. We seek peace in the name of the Greater Good._

* * *

Impressed… would not be the word that would adequately describe how 'O Kais felt as he laid his disappointed eyes onto this much esteemed 'Citadel'. 'Disappointed'… that would be the word.

This Citadel, described as the political, cultural and financial capital of the galactic community, was just so… small. It was about the same size as those numerous defence stations that orbit T'au. The two Ta'Shiro Fortress Stations, continent sized cities themselves, that lay in orbit above T'au was more impressive than this. Though he really shouldn't have taken that 'Codex' of theirs at face value. In-depth and complicated it may be, what was contained within it would be affected by bias and other factors which questioned its reliability as a resource.

But whether it impressed him or not mattered little for this diplomatic venture. And if not for his insistence to accompany Shi'Ores, he would be still be back in the system that those 'Turians' call the Crescent System.

His scarred hands roamed his new suit of armour and equipment given to him for this, testing it for any faults with an experienced and perceptive eye. The armour straps were tightened and the plates themselves were in pristine condition. The HUD of his helmet was operational and without faults and a Pulse Carbine was slung by his side.

…It's been over a decade since he last wore the basic combat armour of the base Fire Warrior. Ever since he became a Shas'Ui, he had been piloting a battlesuit for all his battles. But between campaigns, he always found himself time to practice his accuracy and occasionally directing the mock combat training that Shas'Saal engaged in. While he may be out of practice, he was confident that he was still a capable Fire Warrior.

And it was this confidence that he knew that Shi'Ores would remain safe under his protection. If this Citadel was to turn into a trap, he was more than willing to cut his way down through the innumerable enemies back to the ship, even at the cost of his own life, to ensure the Ethereals safety.

Though it was not as if he had not prepared for provisions in the case of them needing to escape the Citadel. Several teams of XV8 Crisis Battlesuits were on standby in the hanger bays of the all Battleships and Cruisers present, waiting to be inserted in to aid with the evacuation if necessary. Likewise, every single ship in the fleet had standing orders to destroy the Citadel's meagre defence fleets and then open fire on the Citadel itself to aid their evacuation.

And… if the unthinkable was to happen. Then the Fleet was fully authorized to deliver fusion bombs onto the Citadel to destroy the main hub of the Citadel in preparation for the eventual annexation of the Citadel races by the Tau Empire for the Greater Good.

Shaking dark thoughts out of his mind, he approached a waiting Shi'Ores and Water Caste advisor, standing in the middle of the Honour Guard. The Shas'Vre's in the rest of the Honour guard nodded respectfully and willingly stood aside for him to take the lead. "We are ready Aun'El."

"Then let us begin." Shi'Ores calmly stated as he stepped forward into the Orca that would take them down to the Citadel. The rest of the delegation followed him in at a respectable pace, easily fitting into the dropship designed to hold up to an entire Hunter Cadre.

It was a short and brief descent down to the prearranged dock prepared for them by these 'C-Sec'. When the shuttle doors opened, the aliens on the other side were likely more surprised than they. In between the lengthy travel times of the Tau's FTL, there was an abundance of time to familiarise themselves with the Citadel aliens with the 'Codex' they provided. But again, while the general information was unlikely to be false, it did not mean that everything in it was true. No one would be foolish enough to give away every information they possessed.

There were four aliens in blue armour awaiting them outside: three of those Turians and a sole 'Asari'. For whatever reason, they were not wearing helmets with their armour though he supposed that was to appear friendlier somehow. The Por'El accompanying them would be better at identifying these little details that actually meant a great deal.

"Welcome to the Citadel. We will escort you to the Presidium where the Council is waiting." The sole Asari said in a fluid voice. Hmm… even he caught the overtone of that. The way she phrased that seemed to imply that this Council was in a superior position to which the Tau were clamouring to meet.

"Of course." The Por'El replied politely. 'O Kais was expecting some form of witty or intelligent answer that would return the dominance to the Tau but he was sadly disappointed.

The Tau Honour Guard marched in unison, with him as the lead, behind the two leading C-Sec while the remaining two flanked them. The dock was near empty of life; only numerous C-sec positioned at junctions kept it from being completely void of life. 'O Kais made special note of where they were all stationed just in case.

And then they were released into what seemed to be a main road. There, large crowds of aliens congregated around to catch a glimpse of them, the hordes held back by rigid lines of C-Sec troops. Up above them were several anti-grav vehicles hovering overhead which made him think of why this Council couldn't arrange for some proper transport instead of making them march a parade up to their Presidium

He resisted the urge to look around like a dumbstruck fool, which was without doubt the intent of this: to show off the Citadel to the newcomers.

"I am concerned about _them_" The Turian Councillor Sparatus commented on the fleet of Tau dreadnoughts that waited just beyond the arms of the Citadel, waving at the graphic image of them for extra emphasis. "It says much of this _Empire_ when they bring a war fleet to a peaceful diplomatic meeting."

"Indeed." The Salarian Councillor Valern agreed dryly as he too was deeply worried about the Tau fleet. The hasty report from the Turian fleet that had initiated contact with the Tau had revealed very little of these Tau. They were only able to confirm that their ships were all oversized and that it was because they did not utilise element zero in the least. That left many uncertainties of the capabilities of their fleet and he certainly did not want to test them on this day.

"Not just their means of diplomacy but also the strength of their industry. They do have another similar fleet in the Crescent System and this fleet's designation, 'Four Fifth', suggests that there are many more like them. Certainly, it would take more than a handful of developed worlds to manage large amounts of these fleets." The Asari Councillor Tevos analysed and returned her observations and musings.

"Perhaps… but what if this is merely a ruse to misguide us on their true strength. This could be half their entire navy for all we know." Sparatus speculated sceptically.

"Unlikely. That would mean the other half is still in the Crescent system leaving nothing to defend their own territory. It would be illogical to do so for a temporary ruse." Valern objectively pointed out.

"I agree. There is very little to gain from misleading us. And this was just speculation on my part anyhow." Tevos nodded with Valern's conclusion.

"And what of the Tau's lack of eezo? While I don't doubt the word of Admiral Aemilius, I, for one, find it hard to believe. No race encountered by the Council in thousands of years has not used element zero for a basis of their technology." Sparatus shared with his fellow councillors.

"I also find it rather difficult to believe but not completely unbelievable. If the Tau prove hospitable then I am sure that a limited technology exchange could be arranged." Tevos stated to the Turian Councillor.

"Yes. Studying a non eezo based technology would be interesting." Valern agreed, already envisioning the possibilities of a FTL not based on element zero. They would be far freer in building colonies and perhaps even the eventual problem of overcrowding in Citadel space, due to the policy of not activating new relays, could be solved.

Sparatus looked like he was about speak some more, his mouth twitching before he spotted the Tau delegates entering the Council chambers. The originally five bodyguards seemed to have been whittled down to only two, no doubt the other three were being waiting just outside the hall under C-Sec watch.

It was plainly simple to identify the figures that needed to be paid attention to. Two of the Tau were wearing plain amour and despite usual Council laws, short carbines, the same colour of their armour, were in their hands as their head cautiously turned about searching for any threats to their charge. These were the soldiers, protection and ultimately irrelevant.

The two they were protecting were the important ones, the one that would be doing all the talking on behalf of their Tau Empire. On the left was one in regal and elaborate robes not too unlike the one that Valern wore. But it was the one with the staff that was clearly in the lead, even from up on her elevated position, she could see the obvious deference that the others held for him.

"On behalf of the Citadel Council, I welcome you to the Citadel and hope this meeting today will be the opening of a positive and beneficial relationship between your Tau Empire and the Citadel Council." Tevos started with a political greeting to the ambassadors of the new race.

"I am Councillor Tevos." Tevos introduced herself first. Gesturing to her left, "This is Councillor Valern." Valern gave a brief nod. And finally indicating to Sparatus. "And this is Councillor Sparatus."

The Tau with the staff gave brief nods of acknowledgements in return. "I am Aun'El T'au Shi'Ores. With me is Por'El T'au Dao and Shas'O T'au Kais. I in turn bring you greetings from the Tau Empire and I too pray that our meeting will benefit us both for the Greater Good." Aun'El T'au Shi'Ores gestured to the appropriate person with each of their names. And their names were quite the handful.

"Now that I suppose that the pleasantries are over. I would like to perhaps know your reasoning for bringing such a large fleet to a peaceful meeting." Sparatus bluntly burst out.

"Large? I assure you that the Four Fifth fleet is the standard size for a Kor'Vatta fleet." Por'El T'au Dao replied, his face looked somewhat surprised to Tevos. Though she had no idea how these Tau expressed their emotions so it might actually be scorn for all she knew.

"Perhaps… but regardless; is an entire fleet necessary?" Sparatus continued with his complaint.

"You will have to forgive us, but it is standard procedure to have a fleet nearby while negotiating with intergalactic powers. It is for protection and deterrent purposes." Por'El T'au Dao stated firmly. Immediately, Tevos caught the piece of information and from the looks of it; Valern did as well. They were not the first intergalactic power that these Tau have encountered.

"Of course. But I am most interested in knowing who these other intergalactic powers are?" Tevos suddenly interjected before Sparatus could derail the conversation elsewhere.

Por'El T'au Dao glanced over to Aun'El T'au Shi'Ores for a moment and it was only with Aun'El T'au Shi'Ores's nod of approval did Por'El T'au Dao continue. Tevos already had an inkling that Aun'El T'au Shi'Ores was the superior but that just confirmed it. "They call themselves the Imperium of Mankind. We are currently in a… uneasy relation with them due to conflicting interests."

"But we are not here to discuss the Imperium today." Por'El T'au Dao quickly changed to subject. "I am certain that this goes without saying; but the Tau Empire does not wish to engage in any form of hostilities with the Citadel Council."

"Agreed. The Council is a committed to maintaining peace and stability in the galaxy. We are not warmongers lusting for conquest." Valern quickly snapped up.

"You have our thanks." Aun'El T'au Shi'Ores thanked graciously. "Now, about the Mass Relays…"

* * *

_Urgent: Report on Alien Constructs (Mass Relays) and Citadel Council_

_To: High Council, T'au_

_From: Aun'El T'au Shi'Ores_

_Upon arrival in the system that contained the constructs we have encountered a new alien race, the Turians, and initiated first contact. It is through them that we are now in a diplomatic relation with another galactic civilization that calls themselves the Citadel Council. Fortunately, they do not seem to share the aggressiveness of the Gue'la and are content with what they currently have. _

_I am aware that my objective is the establishment and research of the alien constructs, mass transit devices that the Citadel has dubbed Mass Relays, but I believe that there are now numerous opportunities the Greater Good and the Tau with it. The station that will soon be constructed in the Crescent System would be best served as a launch pad to spread our reach into the galaxy. Attached to this file is a compendium dubbed the Codex that possesses mass information about this Citadel and the relays that would prove very interesting._

_Regarding the integration of the races to the Empire: given the standard of living and the modest protection that membership with the Council grants; many of the Citadel races would be difficult to sway to the Greater Good. Thus I suggest that the Water Caste should first focus on these races:_

_Quarian: __They are an exiled race and currently reside in a fleet of ship so large that it outnumbers even the Kor'Vatta. However the vast majority of these ships are used to house their exiled population and the Kor'Vatta will likely make short work of the Quarians Migrant Fleet, as they designate themselves. Integration with the Empire will be a simple matter. Their desires for a home planet and protection is well within the powers of the Empire. _

_Krogan: __These barbarians are not too unlike the Orks in their savagery, lust for bloody combat and their incredible reproduction rate. Currently their population is kept to a minimum with regards to a previous Council measure which has limited their growth. The Water Caste could perhaps come to an agreement with these savages though I believe it is unlikely as they will no doubt want a cure to their declining birth rates and a second Ork race could devastate the Empire. The Krogan may perhaps be the second race that must be forsaken and exterminated for the Greater Good._

_Batarians: __Yet another barbaric race that practices the enslavement of other races, though they could perhaps still be turned to the Greater Good. I would advise the use of the cause of liberating their slaves to enforce such change upon them. Such a deed will without doubt show the Citadel the righteousness of the Greater Good and strengthen our position with the Citadel races._

_Vorcha__: A primitive species that is mostly trapped within their own desolate homeworld in a state of constant infighting for the few remaining resources. They are an aggressive species though amazingly adaptable on an individual level, however the Codex states that their aggressiveness is not an innate nature and they can be trained to be civilised. I would suggest that tests must be taken to confirm this. If it is true then perhaps we can uplift them and guide them onto a better path that would serve the Greater Good._

_Terminus Systems__: An extremely loose confederation of independent systems that is often plagued by lawlessness and slavers. I do not doubt that many of such planets would welcome the Tau Empire and the protection that we bring. The more reluctant of such systems would soon see the error of their ways when they are attacked by pirates and their ilk. Of course, the Kor'Vatta shall be nearby and show these systems the benefit of joining with the Greater Good._

* * *

**Just wanted to get the blue space communists out of the way since they're probably the only ones that would have a peaceful first contact. I don't think I'm too great at the political things as well either :(**


	2. Dark Eldar

**I hope this is okay. Since I want to avoid a simple X meets Council and promptly squishes Council like an insect. **

* * *

A small fleet of dark sleek vessels glided through the black seas of real space with an unnatural mist that shrouded the small fleet from outside eyes. As the flagship of the fleet was the Ifiath Of, a Torture Class Cruiser, of the Dark Eldar that bore the symbols of the Kabal of the Black Heart. It was one of the only three other cruisers in the fleet with the remaining ships all being Agony Class Frigates and Pale Class Escorts. Within this fleet held the remaining forces of Archon Tahril.

And this… this was all that was left of mighty warhost that Tahril, Archon of the Kabal of the Black Heart, commanded. He had not a ship larger than a cruiser, his former personal battleship: the Lok Ut and half the other ships that he had commanded, had been destroyed in an hot encounter with an Imperial Fleet in such chance circumstances that he was certain that it was planned. And only a third of his personal forces remained, the remainder after his failed campaign on the Kaurava system and mass desertion to other Archons within the Kabal.

After the failure in the Kaurava System, the sinister Archon's reputation and formerly great prestige had been ruined and was now in tatters. Many of those Kabalite Warriors that had not been slain by their accursed brethren's Aspect Warriors had deserted him in Commorragh, leaving him and only his most loyal of followers to face the bare wrath of Asdrubael Vect.

Tahril gingerly used an armoured finger to trace the fresh scar lines on his decaying face, Vect's reminder of why failure was not an option for an Archon of Commorragh's dominant Kabal. Explosive crimson hate boiled in his mind as he vividly recalled the condescending looks of even the slaves as Vect publically punished him before all the court and eventually all of Commorragh to see.

But he was not idiotically suicidal just yet. No… he would not let bitter emotion get the best of him and cloud his judgement. He would have his just revenge… on Vect and all that had slighted him! As he was now, he could not hope to successfully challenge the supreme overlord of Commorragh; no, he would be dead cold before he even got the chance.

First, he would have to rebuild his strength. Replenish his ranks of Kabalite Warriors and repair his broken image in Commorragh. No! He would surpass his former strength! Create a new Kabal which would eclipse the Kabal of the Black Heart in its glory! And when he was ready… he would come crashing down upon those heathens that would mock him.

Tahril slammed the jewelled goblet of exquisite wine down hard onto the rests of his throne, the broken human slave kneeling beside him didn't even flinch as he obediently took the cup and moved to refill it. The Kabalite Warriors that were stationed on guard outside his private cabin likewise had no reaction to the outburst of anger. Their Archon had been regularly releasing his pent in anger for weeks now.

But that vile bastard Vect had effectively condemned him to a slow and humiliating death; no doubt for the Surpreme Archon's twisted amusement. He was kept out of all new planned raids and most of his former regular targets had been claimed by other Archons, now far more powerful than he. With no chance to lead raids and thus restore his credibility, no new followers would join him in his current state and already he could hear traitorous whispers among his so called _loyalists_. If he did not have a breakthrough soon, then all his remaining allies will no doubt abandon him and he would be eventually assassinated for some other unworthy individual to take his place.

"My Lord, several vessels detected coming out of the third construct." the rusty voice of Akeizeth, shipmaster of the Ifiath Of flared out across the comms directly to him. There was only silence as a response for Tahril had deliberately closed his eyes and took deep breaths as he silently contemplated.

He had waited a long time for this… from the weeks ago when he first discovered the primitive construct and easily deciphered their use. With his intellect, he had devised a way that would see him rise back up stronger than ever. These constructs were new, never discovered before by any other Kabal in Commorragh. And this meant there was an entirely fresh primitive civilization that lay beyond it; just waiting for him to make them his prey of choice. An entire civilization's worth of slaves; that would as good as any indicator of his superior abilities. And this first encounter would be the beginning of a long and joyous hunt. Thus; when Tahril's eye lids rose back up, there was a new spark in his eyes.

"Direct a course behind them. We shall strike there. I shall be on the bridge shortly." Tahril enthusiastically pushed himself off of his throne and with newfound energy made for the door, his personal slave obediently following him. The two Kabalite Warriors both snapped to attention as he passed by their post, giving him a respectful salute less they be cruelly punished for not affording the proper respect for their leader.

Tahril made a grand show of entering the bridge of the Ifiath Of, Akeizeth deferentially passing over his shipmaster's seat over to the Archon; for a shipmaster as old as him he had learned when it was best to show subservience a long time ago. Taking no notice of his underlings, Tahril slowed his walk to the crown seat as he spotted the alien fleet.

Counting only a single destroyer and several escorts of varying size, he smiled viciously as he quickly realized how much stronger even his depleted fleet was over this paltry rabble of alien ships. He sniggered as his much mightier fleet floated undetected behind the alien fleet, the Shadowfields installed in all his vessels easily keeping the prying eyes of the aliens off of them as they moved in for the kill.

"We are in position. Awaiting your commands my lord." Akeizeth told Tahril, the aggression clear in his voice; the shipmaster was bloodthirsty and greatly desired the agony of many which would rejuvenate his body. Tahril was no different and with a mocking snigger, waved his confirmation.

There was no indications of the attack, no bright lights to trace after the innumerable Leech Torpedoes launched at the alien rabble. Designed to drain the drain ships of its power; the Leech Torpedoes did it work well as they impacted with the alien vessels. Dark lightning streaked across the alien ships as their power sources were sucked dry.

With the aliens now immobile and helpless, Tahril couldn't help but feel the powerful urge to personally go and join one of the boarding parties and let the blood of his foes rain for him as he tore through their pathetic bodies. It was tempting… very… very tempting…

But he must refrain. There were certain to be plenty of prisoners that he could amuse himself with later so he must refrain. The aliens were new to him and uncertainties could mean life or death in a battlefield; so… it was best to let his Kabalite Warriors do the dying for him first. They would be given the honours of showing him how these aliens fight so that he could understand and then outmanoeuvre the aliens later.

* * *

Admiral Kel'rak, Seventh Fleet of the Batarian Hegemony was now apprehensively sweating on the dimmed bridge of the Dreadnought that served as the flagship of the Seventh Fleet. The emergency red lights not helping his mood in the least. He would have to speak with the idiot that designed this. Despite this, his loud voice was oddly calm as he tried to regain control of the situation.

All power systems in the ship had been inexplicably powered off and the ship was now running on emergency power; only good for lighting the ship and limited communication. Communications with the rest of his fleet was cut off and he suspected they were suffering identical troubles as them. He fervently hoped that this was just a coincidence and that he could just ruin some engineer's career for screwing over an entire dreadnought. That was far less dangerous and life threatening to him and his men.

But while that fantasy tried to squirm into his beliefs, he firmly held onto reality and grimly prepared his men for boarding. This was almost certainly an unprovoked attack by someone. That these unknown enemies managed to stay undetected while they disabled his dreadnought already said much of their capabilities. That they didn't destroy outright meant they wanted something with his ship and that probably meant a boarding action.

Who these attackers were? He had no idea. No ballsy pirate group had the resources to attack a fleet and all the major mercenary groups which had the resources didn't have the courage. And the technology to disable a dreadnought, he suspected that it might be the Citadel Council. No one else had the technology to pull something like this off.

Stepping forward, he leaned over to speak over the comms and broadcast his message for the entire ship. "To all personnel on board, we are under attack and are likely to be boarded. All security teams are to report to prearranged stations and all other able personnel are to arm themselves in the armoury and help repel all boarders. I repeat: we are under threat of being boarded and all security teams are to report to prearranged stations and all other able personnel equip themselves in the armoury and help repel all boarders until further orders."

With that complete, he turned to the rest of his bridge, his subordinates looking at him expectantly for orders and leadership. "Talvosh, M'treka, Kel'mar. Stay here and maintain the me updated on everything." Kel'rak pointed out the three best officers to the task whom saluted in response. "The rest of you are with me. We're going to the armoury."

Without another word he stormed out of the bridge, a long trail of crewman hurriedly following him. Having skipped the main elevator for obvious reasons, he was half way down the stairs when the bad news finally arrived. "Sir, we are receiving reports of explosions in the hangers and corridor with the air lock."

Damnit! He had always been bad at guessing at things in his life and of all things to get right… He grimly doubled his speed to the armoury, making it there in only a few more minutes where there was already a large group of Batarians waiting to be properly equipped. Tch… probably everyone wanted a suit of armour.

"We don't have enough suits to pace around. Anyone that knows how to really fight get first priority. Everyone else; just grab a Terminator Assault Rifle or something." he briskly ordered the rabble as he shoved his way through. He was well aware that this was a tall order for many of his Batarians to take, without armour their chances of dying rose up substantially.

Still, they grudgingly obeyed and the few singled out Batarians were propelled to the forefront of the group. At the very least; now that those soldiers were wearing armour and had shields, they would also be the ones that would be taking the lead and the brunt of the fighting.

Kel'rak himself didn't bother putting on any armour, he had taken the necessary basic training but that was at least a decade ago and he doubted he was any good nowadays. Snatching a Executioner shotgun off the rack and strapping a few grenades onto him, he turned to leave and faced a mob of crewman, armed similarly to himself, awaiting further instructions.

Holding his shotgun with one hand, he used his other to split his Batarians into four groups. "You go support the security team at the Hangers. You lot; to the air lock." He directed the first two groups to their destination, not looking at them as they rushed off.

"Talvosh! Is there any new updates on the boarders?" he irritably spoke into the comms back to the bridge. They had been strangely quiet for some time now. Surely there must have been some new activity from the boarders or at least news of firefights in the ship.

"…"

His heart sank when he heard only eerie static on the other end. His brows tightened in worry as he considered what had happened. If he was lucky: then maybe the comms had finally died out and the three of them were now desperately working to re-establish communications. He was sceptical on whether his luck was that good after all this today.

"Group 3, you stay here and guard the armoury in case anyone else comes. I know there's a lot more of us than just this!" he yelled out. Moving to the lead of the last group, he directed them back the way he had come. "The rest of you are with me. We're going to check the bridge."

It was an increasing foreboding feeling that made him stop at the start of the stairs. Looking at the tight route upstairs now… made it increasingly seem like a death trap. The stairs were designed for three at a time at best and with his large group, a single grenade could probably end with them all blown to gory bits.

But this was the most direct route back up to the bridge where his three officers may or may not be dead. There were other stairs but that would include a far more extensive route which would waste far more time than he would like. His four eyes closed in concentration as he fought for an answer: the fast route which was likely a trap or the long route in which if the bridge was attacked, they would never get there in time.

Coming to what might be a fatal decision, he hefted his shotgun with a sour look on his face. "We'll go up in single file. Keep some distance between each other so if it is a death trap then at least we won't all die."

He reluctantly put himself at the forefront too, he was going to take point and be the guy that was probably going to die first. That way at least; he would be the first to suffer for his mistake and it might buy some time for the others to get back down. And if he was dead, at least he wouldn't have to worry about all this crap anymore. His soul would be long in the afterlife by then.

Kel'rak planted a firm foot on the first step, making as much noise as possible and shooting his head upwards to see if he could catch anything out of the ordinary; any indication that this was a trap. It might have just been his current paranoia but he could have sworn that something stirred in the creepy shadows above. He was tempted to try and lob a grenade up there to chase ambushers out of hiding but he didn't trust his skill enough to do so. He might end up screwing up and having the grenade falling back down to him and that might just be the dumbest thing he's ever done.

Keeping his Executioner aimed at where he thought the attackers may be, he cautiously continued upwards. He ignored the hushed whispers of his Batarians behind him and twitched his eyes as he saw something move in the shadows again. The barrel of his gun quickly went over to it and he stared down the shadows until he was certain that he was just too paranoid and was seeing things.

Finally reaching the right doorway, Kel'rak quickly hurried through it; glad to be rid of the oppressive atmosphere that had sunk deeply into the stairwell. He really was overthinking things, there was no trap and he was still alive. Maybe his luck was still holding up.

He caught the sight of a twisted black blade slicing towards his head just in time. Falling backwards, he still failed to completely avoid the lethally fast blade as it scored a long painful gash across his neck. The Batarians directly behind him, seeing their Admiral falling backwards and an alien with a blade standing over him, opened fire while other rushed up and pulled their leader out of the crossfire.

Kel'rak clawed as his wounded throat in agonizing pain. Throughout his military career: he had been shot at, bludgeoned, hit by shrapnel, stabbed and even got smashed by debris once. But none of that compared to the impossibly painful wound that was spreading torture throughout his body, inside and out.

"Get him back down!" he distinctly heard someone scream out. He felt his body being pulled back down the steps, his back painfully clanging off the metal steps. He heard… screaming… some more gunfire… the sound of a blade swishing… and then silence… dead silence.

Slowly opening his four eyes, he saw red. The original grey painted metal walls were painted with red dripping blood. A single black figure was crouched over the form of one of his subordinates: Ensign Ma-

He saw the alien twist its arm and there was a chilling scream from Ensign Mal'shar. The alien pulled a cruel dagger out and held it above the Ensign. Identifying what hung on the dagger made Kel'rak's stomach churn on the inside. His Eyes! It was taking his eyes! The only means for a soul to leave the body and rest in the afterlife.

Kal'rek must have made some noise because the alien then swiftly turned to face him, the bloodied dagger held at the ready. He didn't see her move but in the next instant; she was right on top of him and it went dark.

A wicked knife was spun up into the air; not one used for combat but rather, with its barbed blade, utilised for the glorious art of torture. Swiftly snatching it out of the air, Archon Tahril held it out for his Batarian prisoner to see, the thing chained together in such a way that he could only just move enough to struggle. Not that his toy could yet; the pathetic still hadn't awoken from unconsciousness just yet. But he could wait; he had not gotten a slave to get the poison out of this thing for nothing.

This one would be the twelve alien of today, making it an even dozen. The war scars on his face were now gone and his decaying features was restored to that of sublime perfection with the pain and agonizing torture of his previous guests. He… had not felt so _good_ in a long, long time.

He had learned much from the primitive aliens so far. More so from that 'Codex' that the alien databases contained rather than from word of mouth via the Batarians. After so long without a plentiful raid, many of his followers were starving for agonized souls to rejuvenate themselves and who was he to stop them from partaking in the most basic of pleasures. It was this that made it difficult to interrogate any despite the prisoners numbering into the hundreds; most expired far too quickly.

And besides; there were plenty more where that came from. For there was not just a single civilization ripe for the picking; but several other primitive races that used these relays, as they call it, for their main means of transportation and travel. He especially liked the look of those Asari, perhaps they should be his next prey after he was done with the Batarians. It didn't really matter; since all of this Citadel Council will soon be his.

Or perhaps he would find them among the Batarian worlds that he intended to conquer and enslave in his name. The Batarian Hegemony was a slaver nation after all and there were certain to be some Asari among those caught in bondage. The look on their faces when their liberators turn out to be even worse than they could possibly imagine. The irony of this was not lost on him.

"W…where am I?" Tahril found himself giddy with joy as he heard the weak voice of his alien guest. Cruel excitement made him turn around all that faster as envisioned the many ways that he could entertain his guest. He was far from a bad host after all.

"Ah… Admiral Kal'rek was it? How nice to meet you in person." He jovially toyed with the ugly four-eyed thing. He circled around the his guest, revelling in the various negative emotions that shone in his many eyes as they tracked him as best as they could.

"Who… are you?" the creature gasped out, specks of blood spitting out of his mouth. Tahril cackled to himself at the presumption of the creature. Did it really think it had the right to know his name?

"Someone vastly more important than you." He cleanly stated as he plunged his twisted blade into the forehand of his guest. A wide smile broke out on his face as his guest cried out in pain as he twisted the blade around in his flesh. "But enough about myself. I wish to talk about that Hegemony of yours."

"I… won't talk… you… son of a…" whatever the crude creature was planning to say next was cut short as Tahril flickered back over to his table of assorted tools and carefully picked out a razor sharp shear. The Batarian fearfully watched as his captor brought the deadly shear over and hovered it above his forearm.

"Now there's no need to use profanities." Tahril said in a chilling calm voice as he shaved off a thin strip of the alien's skin off. He could feel the energy rejuvenating inside him as the alien painfully cried out in protest of the torment. He liked those stronger willed ones; they provided so much more entertainment. "Do you feel like talking now?"

"…"

"Could you please repeat that? I couldn't hear." Tahril politely asked the creature. He hadn't hear whatever it had whispered out to him.

"Go… Fuck yourself…" the insulting creature spat at him. Tahril could only smile all the wider in response, amused as he was with his guest's petty resistance. But in the end, it wouldn't even matter. With deliberate slowness, he sheared off another peel of skin off. His guest screamed in pain again and struggled to no avail.

"With… a… cacti!" the Batarian gasped out amidst all the pain, no doubt proud of his words. Oh… he will take his time and greatly enjoy this. First he'll peel off the skin from his arms and then he'll start surgically pulling out the flesh between his bones...

* * *

The official Batarian envoy ignored the hateful looks and disapproving glares sent their way from the masses of the Citadel commons as they travelled to their destination: the Presidium. Ambassador Mash'val stayed in the centre of his armoured bodyguards, happy to keep armed Batarians between himself and the mob of aliens who would no doubt feel no remorse gunning him down and would, in all likelihood, enjoy themselves while doing so. Relations between his people and the Citadel had always been tense and volatile over the cultural issue of legalised slavery. This had spread over to just about the rest of the galaxy and now everyone hated on the Batarians for being arrogant slaveholding bigots despite only the wealthiest of Batarian families could actually afford slaves themselves. It was thus: he was certain that it was a deliberate move by the Council to deny them a quick shuttle and force them to take a humiliating walk and endure the insufferably long elevators up to the Presidium.

That wasn't to say he couldn't understand their racial resentment, his position as ambassador afforded him more exposure to other races than most Batarians. But if they really think that Batarians should just give up slavery just like that; they were wrong. It was a deeply rooted part of their culture accepted by every facet of Batarian society. It would be like asking the Turians to give up their superior military advantage or the Salarians to come free with their STG.

Still, that did not mean that they could not compromise. They were a practical race and even his proud leaders had reluctantly accepted what needed to be done to ensure the survival of the Batarian Hegemony. The Dark Eldar were intensifying their attacks and at least half of the former grand Batarian navy were now debris.

Possessing technology and powers that, by all logic, should be impossible; the Dark Eldar always made short work of their fleets. Ground engagement were slightly more even, in that they had a chance in winning them, but with Dark Eldar naval dominance and the damn aliens not being the least shy of orbital bombardment, Batarian victories were wide and far between.

All diplomatic ventures to the Dark Eldar always ended in failure. Their demands of half the population Hegemony to be handed over to them on a silver platter was completely unreasonable. But the Hegemony could ill afford the losses they were taking against the Dark Eldar. That left only one possible option still open to them and they must take it, no matter the damage to their pride. The Citadel Council were still the most powerful force in the known galaxy and could likely protect the Hegemony against the Dark Eldar.

Mash'val's irritation and anger at the Council only grew when they finally reached the Presidium. Despite having arranged an appointment beforehand and citing that it was of the utmost importance; he was informed that 'The Council regrettably could not see him yet as they were engaged in diplomatic talks with the Hanar about their religious rights within the Citadel.' Really!? Whether those purple jellyfish get to preach about the Protheans wad more important than the Dark Eldar razing their worlds and enslaving entire planets!

It was when he was finally 'invited' to see the Council that he could finally meet the Council. Giving the Hanar ambassador an angry glare as he passed it, he found himself standing before the three high daises where the Council stood, looking down on him. Already he could see outright dislike, bordering on hate, on the Turian while there was clear look of distaste on Tevos's face. The Salarian had only an impassive face, giving away nothing. He fought hard to keep an angry scowl off his face, he hadn't even said a thing and he could already tell that the _fair and just Council!_ …was less than well happy to see him.

"Ambassador Mash'var. What business do you have with the Council?" Councillor Valern bluntly said out loud, deciding that pleasantries were obviously wasted on the Batarian Ambassador. Yet another insult to him and the Hegemony that they could add to a long list of insults that the Citadel Council unjustly laid upon them.

"I am here, on behalf of the Batarian Hegemony, to request the additional protection of the Citadel fleets." Mash'val said with forced politeness. This was vital to the security of the Hegemony and he had been warned of the dire consequences of failure. He had no intent on receiving the 'honour' to lead a crusading fleet against the Dark Eldar, it didn't take a genius to know that was suicide against someone that fights at ridiculous speeds.

"And why would the Hegemony suddenly require our fleets?" The Asari Councillor cautiously asked for good reason. The Batarian Hegemony had always insisted that their own navy could defend their domain and had previously never allowed Citadel Fleets to patrol their territory.

"We require additional protection against the Dark Eldar." Mash'var told them the truth. He gritted his teeth in frustration when he heard a sceptical snort from the damn Turian Councillor. "We also wish to know what the Council wishes to do with the Dark Eldar."

"Ah, yes... The Dark Eldar. Some sort of Asari look alike that shoots black holes and rips open reality as FTL with the ultimate goal of conquering the galaxy. Yet no race but yours has ever caught a whiff of them." Councillor Sparatus stated, his voice filled with scepticism. And if this was not enough to mark his disbelief, his next words cemented it in. "We have dismissed this claim."

"This is ridiculous! Most of our colonies have already been taken by the Dark Eldar and they are already taken one of our core worlds!" the Batarian ambassador cried out in outrage. Not to mention the sheer number of ships they had lost. He knew that the Council had spies in Batarian space and thus they logically should know that the Dark Eldar does exist and are a threat to everyone!

"There has been no evidence of these Dark Eldar existing. It would be wasteful to send required fleets against an imaginary enemy!" Tevos tried to justify first, always the diplomat. But he paid no attention to her.

"It's because we're a nation that has legal slavery isn't it? Because we hold thousands of your races as slaves!" Mash'var accused them. He knew this, they knew this and the Hegemony knew this. And it was only because of the desperate times that the Hegemony was forced to do this.

Activating his omni tool, he keyed in the necessary commands to open the locks to pull out the important file he wanted. With only a few more presses, he sent the file to the three individuals that made up the Citadel Council. It pinged on their omni-tools in seconds, each of them taking their time reading the file and reeling back in surprise at the contents.

"Ambassador... this is..." Tevos started with a trembling voice before Mash'val cut her off again.

"The Batarian Hegemony shall return all individuals in the bondage of slavery to their respective races governments. This applies to Asari, Salarians, Turians, Hanar, Elcor, Volus, Quarian, Krogan, Vorcha and any others that do not fall in this category. In addition to this; the Hegemony shall ban the trade of slavery and shall take the necessary steps to enforce such a change under the watch of the Citadel Council." Mash'var loudly shouted with great flair, eyeing the media cameras he knew that would be filming this. This was the resort that the Hegemony

"Ambassador... I don't know what to say..." Tevos said lightly, her two colleagues still reeling from the completely surprising move by the Batarians.

"This!" He indicated to his own projection on the last measure legislature that the Hegemony had authorized. "Is on the condition that the Citadel Council aid us against the Dark Eldar."

"We… we will need to discuss this." Sparatus quickly interjected first. The other two councillors rapidly nodding their agreement to this.

"What is there to discuss? Your fleets and troops against what you call an 'imaginary enemy' that, according to you, doesn't exist. In return we will return all our slaves and even ban it!" Mash'var loudly provoked, his words getting more than a few nods from the growing crowd. There was no way they could refuse this, not when there was this much public exposure.

"Our decisions can affect the lives of trillions. We cannot make them lightly. This meeting is adjourned momentarily." Councillor Valern sternly said. Without another word, he left his dais to retire to have a personal meeting with the rest of the council. Taking his cue, the Turian and the Asari promptly followed after him, a scowling Batarian's gaze burning onto their backs.

* * *

"There's no escaping this." Tevos grimly told her colleagues in the private lounge reserved for the Council. Normally, this luxurious room was used for them to discuss private matters over a good coffee and to simply relax after a long day dealing with numerous meetings. But today; they were all sprawled across the seats; indecision on all their faces.

"He's trapped us. We can't possibly refuse this." Valern regrettably said as he reviewed the meeting with the Batarians in his head. "Their war against the Dark Eldar must be going worse than anticipated."

"Yes. I don't think anyone would have suspected they would become desperate enough to give up their 'cultural rights'." Sparatus spat out the last word. He thought he had gotten the Batarian to give up on requesting military assistance by claiming the Council had dismissed the claims of the Dark Eldar. But now it seems he was trying to trap them into either sending aid or losing their credibility; neither of which would aid the Citadel in preparing for the eventual Dark Eldar.

"How ready are we currently?" Tevos asked her fellow Councillors on the relative strengths of their nations. For the Asari Republic, the Turian Hierarchy and the Salarian Union were making desperate preparations for a war against a foe that whose technology may even surpass the Protheans.

"The Heirarchy has finished the outfitting of two new fleets and is in the process of creating a third with another four planned. Military funding is at an all-time high and we are already in the midst of retraining the old reserves." Sparatus gave out the war preparation of the Turians.

"The Union is likewise building up its forces." Valern said, giving marked less information that Sparatus did. "However, simulations between our forces and what STG has seen of the Dark Eldar are… less than stellar."

Tevos sighed deeply. "We have been likewise training more Commandos and building new dreadnoughts to expand our forces. But…" Tevos grimly looked her other two councillors in the eye. "This isn't enough…"

"We know." Sparatus grunted with dissatisfaction. He tilted his head down with restrained dark emotions as he compared the strength of the combined Citadel Council against the Dark Eldar. Considering the estimated amount of fire power that the Dark Eldar seemed to use with ease against the meagre fire power of the Council in comparison… "This is nowhere near enough."

They had banked on the Batarians being resistant enough to buy the Council much needed time to prepare. Time to develop comparable weapons and build up enough strength to withstand the Dark Eldar. With more and more STG observations coming in everyday of the Dark Eldar's overwhelming technology; the less and less likely they could catch up.

It was like the Rachni all over again, except infinitely times worse. At least with the Rachni, they were on a comparable level and could hold the line. With the Dark Eldar, their fleets would be lucky to still exist within a year. And this time; there was no Krogans to stem the tide.

And they dared not to make an overt move against the Dark Eldar yet when they were clearly not going to win. Such a move might provoke the Dark Eldar against them. So while it wasn't ethical; the Batarians had to be sacrificed for the greater good of everyone else.

It left a sick feeling in Tevos's stomach, knowing that they were condemning an entire race to death or whatever the Dark Eldar did with their prisoners. Goddess but she wished there was another way. But the Council wasn't ready and the Batarians had done much similar crimes themselves that they might even deserve their fate. That was what she used to vaguely convince herself of their cause. But then again… it didn't do much when they were already discussing the possibility of directing the Quarian Migrant Fleet in between Council Space and Batarian Space as a secondary buffer.

"How do we respond to the Batarian ambassador?" Valern said with resignation in his voice. If the Council survives this incoming disaster and he was still alive; then he would be resigning at the first possible moment.

Sparatus didn't comment because for once, he really had no idea. They were probably going to lose against the Dark Eldar now but they might pull it off if they could bring in the entire galaxy. Or they could refuse and lose the credibility with everyone on the chance that they could stand against them later. How was he meant to decide?

* * *

**As before; if anyone wishes to continue on with this they're free to go ahead.**


	3. Eldar

**I've been a bit busy and hadn't had much time to write. That a plot bunnies are not longer coming to me. :( Anyhow; I did finally manage to actually get another on of my ideas done. Also for the Ork one; I'm not certain whether how I should write the Ork POV. Should it be like "da boyz den picked up da slagga" or "the boy then picked up the slugga".**

* * *

_Sisters! The Citadel is once again calling for us to reduce our fleets! What shall our response be? _The Queen of Suen sang out the oily song of the Citadel Council from the depths of her hive in the home world of the Rachni: Suen. The Rachni sang to the Council via the proxy of willing Asari's and it was her charge to manage and guide the Rachni through diplomacy with such proxies.

_Yet their own might has been bolstered with the fleets of the Turians! Why should we lower our fleets? _She heard the singing of one of her sisters followed by a chorus of agreement from all the other sisters. She too agreed with this sentiment. The Great Voice had taught the Rachni to never bow before threats and oppression so that they may stand strong and weather the coming storm of devastation.

That the Great Voice had shown them the true song of the Council only ensured that the Rachni and the Citadel Council could not sing a song of harmony together. For they were destined to sing a song of strife and war, one that might end in the Rachni's utter destruction at the hands of the Council and their slave warriors. And so the Rachni must stand strong.

_Refusing will only aggravate them more so. They will use it as an excuse to increase their military again for our 'aggressive behaviour'. _She sang out to her sisters. The Citadel Council had already made clear what they thought of the Rachni and in turn the Rachni had only a sour song of disdain for the Council. But even so; it was her duty to inform her sisters of the consequences even if it was the same consequence over and over again.

_Then we shall increase ours in turn! With our expansion into the Iwerni Traverse, we can have our new sisters construct fleets of their own._ Another one of her sisters sang out with a chord of red anger. She could not blame her sister for the red anger she felt towards the Citadel Council. The aliens constantly provoked conflict with them and blamed all confrontations on the Rachni. It hurt the harmony that they were constantly unjustifiably in the wrong.

_Then we shall require fleets from our older sisters to protect our newer sisters until they have developed their hive worlds sufficiently. _Another sister sang out her suggestion. Such a thing should not be difficult to provide; many of the first and second generation of Queens had many fleets to their name. As the Queen of the Rachni homeworld, she had the most but all of them were kept within the Mashkin Sul system for defence.

_Indeed, we have skirmished with the Batarians over the traverse and though we sentence all attackers to the great silence, the aliens continue with their song of strife. _One of the sisters with her hive located in that very traverse informed. The hated slavers and their foul songs; she secretly hoped that the coming storm takes them all.

_And they are still making pushes into our territory. What shall our response be? _She sang out to the collection of her sisters. As the speaker of the Rachni collective; it was her role to present issues to the collective so that her sisters can collectively answer and prepare a response for the entire collective.

_We can do nothing more than defend. They are secretly supported by the Council and they shall respond to any aggressive song against the Batarians with their own._ One of her more wary sisters warned the rest. The Queen of Suen hummed a short chord of agreement; it was an open secret among the Rachni that the Batarians was being funded by the Council to contest them at the Iwerni Traverse.

The Citadel Council often made the mistake of seeing the Rachni as incapable of any form of subterfuge due to our isolation from them. They underestimate the power that we could exert over the weaker minded Batarians prisoners as we turned their songs to our melodies.

_Then we should take the fight to the Council!_ Another of her sisters sang out with violent emotion. The Queen of Kharla. This was a sister she keenly recognised, one that always advocated a more direct and confrontational approach to their dealings with the Citadel Council.

_No sister. Occupying the entire Citadel space would be a massive drain on resources better used for preparing for the Coming Storm! _One of the more level headed sisters sang out with a chord of balanced reason. The Coming Storm promised a threat unlike any before and the Rachni would need everything they had to withstand those who sang the song of eternal hunger.

_But we cannot simply just allow these attacks to go unpunished!_ The Queen of Suyin, a Queen whose hive world was among the common skirmish grounds between the Rachni and Batarians sang out her objection. Though the Rachni were superior in all terms against the Batarians, the constant songs of strife above one's hive made it a poor location to raise the new young.

_Does any have a suggestion then?_ The Queen of Suen sang out to her sisters. For she could not see one which would not bring the Council upon them and dragging both sides into an age of strife. And that was something the Rachni would prefer not to do for they would be weakened before the coming threat that would sing a soulless and foul song.

_Can we not consult the Great Voice for guidance?_ The same sister sang out her inquiry. There were many a chords of surprise as the song was heard by the Queens of the Rachni. Clearly this sister must be very young and new to not sing such a pale question.

_Sister, we cannot call upon the Great Voice as we please. The Great Voice only grants us her true songs when we are in dire need. _The Queen of Suen soothingly sang to her younger sister.

_Is this not of dire need? Our worlds are constantly under attack by these aggressors! _Her younger sister sang further with a chord of anger. She could understand the anger and desperation in her song but…

_Sister! Calm yourself!_ She loudly sang to her sister. _The last true song that the Great Voice sang to us warned us of the trap that the Old Machines have left for us! The same trap that the Citadel has fallen for. A few planets under attack does not come close to our entire race being exterminated!_

_So we wait for the Old Machines to spring their trap on the Citadel then?_ _That could take many years yet!_ Her sister sang out her song. Yes, that was true. The Great Voice's true song had never sang exactly when the Old Machine would descend with their sour choir. It could be tomorrow or in a millennia.

_Or we could wait until the Coming Storm devours them. _Another sister sang out her dark suggestion. Now that they knew when it would happen. Only a few centuries from now and the Coming Storm will come with their consuming song of eternal hunger. But then she doubted the Council would be much of a road block before those that say the song of eternal hunger. _They can be used to soften the storm before it comes for us._

_Perhaps, but given what we know of the Council's military; they will not be much of a break for the Coming Storm._ The Queen of Suen sang her out her thoughts with a chord of grey wisdom. The very fact that the Citadel Council used the weak Element Zero based technology prepared by the Old Machines already placed their own self developed technology above theirs.

_Sisters! We are still discussing the defence of our hive worlds in the Iweni Traverse from the Citadel's lackeys! _The young sister sang loudly to all the others. The Queen of Suen once again hummed a chord of agreement. This meeting was veering off topic from the issue at hand.

_Yes then, does any have more solutions for this? _The Queen of Suen sang out to her sisters yet again. This particular issue was a constant one and was always in need to be resolved. They had just yet to come up with a solution to resolve it without war.

_Nothing short of blockading all Relays; which we don't have the numbers in the Traverse to do. _The war advocating sister of Kharla dully sang. That was true; they had only began colonising the Iwerni Traverse in the last decades and the majority of the Rachni military might was already blockading all the Relays between the Inner Citadel Space and the First Sphere of Rachni Space.

_Can the Inner Sphere not spare more fleets? _The Queen of Suyin sang out pleading. There was a general hum of the apologetic chord; it was enough of an answer that even a song wasn't needed.

_Not without compromising the defences we have in place against the Council. _The Queen of Suen sang out to her sisters. All available fleets that the Queens of the Inner Sphere could spare had already been diverted to the Iwerni Traverse. They simply had no more to deploy without withdrawing some from blockade duty.

_The Council is not dull enough to directly attack us! _The Queen of Suyin sang out her protests. The Queen of Suen could not argue that; the Council were many things but there were not completely stupid. If they were watching the combat in the Iwerni Traverse as they suspected then they knew the Rachni outclassed them.

_Perhaps not, but we do not know for certain. _The Queen of Kharla sang out with a grey cautious chord.

There was a tense silence in the telepathic connection that the Rachni Queens shared. No one wanted to be the one that have to bluntly say they were going to leave their younger sisters in the Iwerni Traverse without more support. But as the Queen of Suen she would have to-

_So we are left to fend for ourselves then? We are to- _the Queen of Suyin angrily sang out with a chord of bright red rage. The Queen of Suen cringed in her quarters at the powerful emotion being sent across.

_Wait! I have a possible solutions sisters!_ The Queen of Myar suddenly sang out loudly, drowning out the Queen of Suyin who quickly ended her song to listen.

_Speak then sister. _The Queen of Suen sang out with a chord of relief. The Queen of Suyin was young yet and she would be forgiven for such an outburst. But she would need to learn proper restraint when she grows older.

_Could we not pull back the support we are lending to the Geth and have the inner worlds construct ships that our sisters in the outer sphere can utilise? _The Queen of Myar sang out her suggestion with a chord of excitement.

_Yes! The Geth are already on the verge of victory, they no longer need our support do defeat the Quarians. _The Queen of Suyin sang out her agreement as she immediately jumped on board with the suggestion from her sister. There was a hum of thought and agreement among the Queens as they thought on the idea.

The Queen of Suen hummed a rhyme of sweet agreement. The Geth, with their support, had already survived the attempted genocide by their creators. It was because of that thin layer of Citadel Council 'Peacekeepers' and that the Geth lacked the will to actually kill off their creators that the Quarians still existed as a race. As it was, the Geth had control of the majority of the Quarian's old worlds including all the industry, resources and infrastructure.

_The Geth should be able to sustain themselves with the resources of their creators. Our support is no longer necessary._ The Queen of Kharla also sang out. Just mere reinforcement of what the Queens of the Rachni already had in mind.

_Does any have a counter to this suggestion then?_ The Queen of Suen sang out to all her sisters, asking for any that might want to go against this suggestion. There was no response from any of her sisters which she took as a negative. _Then let us follow through with this suggestion._

* * *

"The Rachni have refused to abide by the force limits we have proposed." Councillor Lysana, the Asari representative told her Salarian counterpart. The two of them were alone in the private lounge reserved for the two councillors; reserved away from the rest of the Presidium. And soon enough, they may be joined by a third member if the Turians proved trustworthy. It all depended on the performance of their military and how well they could co-ordinate with the Council forces.

"Unsurprising. Rachni constantly preparing for war for their Coming Storm." Councillor Helarn commented on the Rachni. Their Coming Storm belief itself was extremely questionable and based solely on their faith in the Great Voice; it was likely more of an excuse on religious grounds for the Rachni to continue their aggressive expansion and their rapid military build up to their already massive fleet. And when the Rachni increased their military; the Council was forced to increase their own military budget so that they could maintain military parity and discourage the Rachni from directly attacking.

"At this rate, we will be forced into a confrontation soon." Lysana noted with concern. The two sides could not simply keep upgrading their military, to get the better of the other, forever. And the result was not one that anyone would benefit out of.

"Total war between Citadel Council and Rachni will end in our loss." Helarn stated with resignation. Lysana nodded grimly at his bleak statement. All the combined races of the Council simply just didn't have the numbers or the technology to match the Rachni properly and come out as the victor. But they would make the bugs pay dearly though.

"I know... how goes the Unions research into the technology that the Rachni uses?" Lysana asked Councillor Helarn. The technology that the Rachni used was radically different to the Element Zero based technology they used and not in a good way. The combat reports from Batarian pirate raids on Rachni colonies in the Iweni Traverse showed quite well the Rachni's combat ability in regards to their ships. Detailed simulations of how well the combined military of all Citadel Council races would fare in a direct confrontation with the estimated total of the Rachni military always ended in their defeat.

And this was why they had to tread a thin line when dealing with the Rachni. While they knew the Rachni could defeat the Council; the Rachni didn't, or at least they didn't think the Rachni knew. And with a careful mix of warnings of military action and the constant reinforcement of the Council's power, the Rachni would never try to test how large the power difference really was. Of course this was top secret information withheld from all but the highest echelons of government. Given the Rachni Queens telepathic abilities, it would be crippling if they learned of the real gap in power between their prisoners.

"Rather well, we can expect our first proper attempt at the integration of Rachni technology into our own ships within the year." Helarn said with some pride. Lysana was less optimistic about it. While the upgrading of their fleets with Rachni technology was clearly necessary, it would take years, perhaps even a decade, for them to have completely integrated Rachni technology with their own. And in that time the Rachni would continue with their own military armament and research leaving the Citadel to play catchup with them. Reaching proper military parity with the Rachni seems like a distant dream given the already enormous lead that the bugs had.

"Will the Turians accept these changes though?" The Asari Councillor mused about the avian like race. They were very militaristic with a rigid culture of service, tradition and honour on the battlefield and she was not certain that...

"I am certain they will see the logic in upgrading their own weaponry." Helarn stated firmly. The Salarian Councillor then flicked on his omni-tool and read aloud a section from a report. "Analysis on the Direct Energy Weapon recovered from wreckage of Rachni vessel downed over -. I think the Direct Energy Weapon part would win them over easily."

"Very well then. We'll brief them about this later." Lysana concluded before frowning in contemplation as another prominent issue that they were came to head. "The Quarian-Geth war. We will need to step up our aid to the Quarians."

"Again!?" Helarn exclaimed in surprise. The Salarians expression of surprise was then replaced a thoughtful one before finally ending with a disdainful look as he surmised what the Quarians did. "Another failed campaign for Rannoch?"

"Unfortunately." Lysana sadly confirmed for him. The Quarians were extremely troublesome with their constant attempts to reclaim their old territory when they were barely able to hold their own against the Geth with Council aid and support. It was only the deployment of Turian and Asari peacekeeping forces that kept the Geth from overrunning their last remaining worlds completely; even then that relied heavily on the Geth not actually trying to penetrate through the thin line the peacekeepers have set up. "By the Goddess, but their pride and stubbornness will lead them all to their deaths if they keep it up." Lysana cursed the Quarian's idiotic tenacity. Not to mention if they kept attacking through the peacekeepers, the Geth might finally have had enough and take the fight to them.

"True." Helarn heaved a heavy sigh as he thought on the situation at hand. "This would be much simpler if the Rachni was supporting the Geth."

Lysana nodded her agreement at the sentiment. They didn't know how deep the relationship was between the Rachni and the Geth but it was certainly deep enough for the Rachni to supply the Geth with ridiculous amounts of material to sustain the AI's war machine. If the Council launched an attack on the Geth to reclaim territory for the Quarians... would the Rachni intervene?

"I don't even understand why the Rachni would even align themselves with the Geth. What do they have to gain?" Lysana said with a touch of exasperation. The Geth had nothing to offer to the Rachni that the Rachni could not acquire themselves. They could be doing this simply to oppose the Council for political reasons but allying themselves to those genocidal Geth wouldn't help their already poor standing in the galaxy. But then, the Rachni never did seem to care much about their reputation.

"Outside of simply opposing us?" Helarn sarcastically asked of her. He then heaved another deep sigh as he sank back into his seat. "I don't know."

There was a tense silence as they both uneasily sat. None of the luxurious comforts and no warming drinks could lighten the weight of responsibility on their shoulders. One wrong move and they could plunge the entire galaxy into a cataclysmic war which will take the lives of billions.

"I sometimes wonder if the Rachni's Great Voice really is real..." Helarn mused as he ventured off topic. The Great Voice: the legendary 'Singer' that apparently always guided the Rachni at defining moments in their history. Helarn had been quite interested in it for quite some time now. "It warned them to not develop an Element Zero base technology because it would make them weak before the old destroyers..."

"Old Machines." Lysana wearily corrected her Salarian colleague. She had heard this all before and it never amounted to anything outside of pure speculation. There was no evidence of the Great Voice and the Old Machines except the Rachni's claims, which was extremely dubious given that it was the Rachni.

"...Old Machines then. And well... Look at the Rachni now; their own developed technology is far ahead of our own!" Helarn exclaimed. Lysana blinked at the sudden outburst. She knew that Helarn had been putting much research into the Great Voice than was healthy but… "And if the Great Voice is real... And actually did foresee these Old Machines and their supposed trap around the Relays... Then I guess we know what happened to the Protheans."

* * *

The Seer carefully treaded across the chamber as he took a place next to the Farseer who was steeped in meditation. He patiently waited for her to notice him and wave for him to speak before he gave his report. "Farseer, the next wave of Batarians have been prepared. The false memories have been implanted."

"Good. But not enough." Farseer Caerys dully noted as she slowly rose to stand. She then walked over to the terminal which contained the star map of this sector. The Seer walking closely by her side. "Have them strike at the planet of Suyin. The Queen there has a loud voice and would be most infuriated with the constant attacks on the Rachni colonies."

"Of course Farseer. Is there anything else?" the Seer said with a respectful nod of his head to his superior in both rank and wisdom. Caerys stared at the star map, the colours of the respective factions marked clearly over the beautiful glistening map.

"We will need the Council to provoke the Rachni." The Eldar Farseer spoke up suddenly. And then she just needed to ensure that the Rachni became the dominant or sole force in this sector. With an entire sector at their command and the Rachni at her command; the maiden worlds in this sector would be protected against the approaching Tyranid hive fleet.

"Can you not command them to do so with as their Great Voice?" The Seer suggested. The Farseer had, after all, established herself as a god like entity for the Rachni who only spoke to them when the need was greatest. Or in reality: when there was something that Farseer Caerys needed done.

"I am planning to do so. Give them a warning of the Council's supposed treachery. But we will need to ensure the Council actually follows through." Caerys responded with a cool voice. The Rachni were peaceful creatures by nature; she had moulded them that way after all. So they would need an extremely violent and provocative move to aggravate them all to war. The difficulty was coming up with such a move that they could manipulate the Council to perform.

"And they are much too cowardly to do so." The Seer commented on the aptitude of the Council. He was no incorrect; the current Citadel Council was too cautious and fearful to directly provoke the Rachni outside of insubstantial warnings. A by-product of being unable to fix their selection; she was occupied with the Necrons on Kaurava III at the time.

"Yes. That is the problem." Caerys agreed with him. The Council was a useless tool to her; the Old Machines have gotten to them before she could. And now, the amount of time and effort to reverse them from their backwards technology path would not be worth the effort. They only had two paths left: either be annihilated by the Rachni or devoured by the Tyranids.

"And what of the Krogans? Can we not use them?" the Seer inquired of the Farseer. Caerys reminded herself that he was new to her entourage and thus did not know of her plans yet.

"They will be poor tools. They are essentially Orks except with an above average intelligence." The Eldar Farseer easily dismissed the barbaric inhabitants of Tuchanka. Uplifting them as they had uplifted the Rachni would likely just mean the Krogans would kill themselves off all the much faster. And that was not mentioning all the separate tribes of Krogans there was. The Rachni, with their hive mind and unity, was much easier to control.

The Seer gave a nod of understanding before going silent. There was a tranquil silence as Farseer thought and Seer waited. "Is there anything else?"

"The Harlequins has departed." The Seer informed her. There was now an uneasy factor in his voice when he told his Farseer.

"They go wherever Cegorach calls them. That is not unusual." Caerys said nonchalantly. The Harlequins only answered the Laughing God and no other. Any orders, or requests more like, she may pass on to the Harlequin Troupe would be obeyed only at the Harlequin's discretion.

"The Troupe Master mentioned venturing to the station of Omega…" the Seer ventured on, the earlier coolness gone from his voice.

"…in the Terminus Systems and where Chaos is most prevalent in this sector" Caerys finished for him. There was the slight concern that she might reveal the presence of the Eldar in the sector but it was a measly one easily pushed down. With the Harlequins moving to a place so tainted in Chaos like Omega; she did not expect many of the aliens to live to tell the tale. And the few that would escape would only tell the tale of the laughing devil. "That is troublesome but we cannot stop them. They will attempt to cleanse the entire station of Chaos."

"Farseer, should we not send a strike team to assist them then?" The Seer asked her. A strike team of Aspect Warriors? No. That would only be a waste of her already meagre resources in this system.

"No." The Eldar Farseer answered with a shake of her head. "It would merely waste our Aspect Warriors on a task unimportant to the greater scheme of things."

"But then will they not fall?" The Seer asked her, marked concern now in his voice. Caerys blinked in surprise at the question. Did he truly believe some backwater primitives would actually prove capable of slaying a whole troupe Harlequin, ones who could and would challenge Chaos without nary a fear?

"You do not have much experience with Harlequins do you Seer?" Caerys asked him. That was the most prevalent explanation she could conjure in her mind. He would not doubt the capabilities of the Harlequins otherwise if he had watched them dance upon the field of battle.

"No Farseer." The Seer admitted without feeling. There was no wrong with admitting your own lack of knowledge. It showed that you were still willing to learn.

"I do not send a strike team not because there would be nothing they could do to aid the Harlequins." Caerys explained her reasoning for him. All the aliens there would either be dead or would have escaped by ship.

"So they will be slain before they arrive then." The Seer concluded sourly.

"No." The Eldar Farseer cancelled his words with her own. She then went on to clarify what she had meant. "They will only arrive there in time to clean up the mess the Harlequins will have made."

* * *

**I have an inkling of what to do with the Imperium but it'll only include either Imperial Guard of Soritas for now. That being said; I did come up with a lot of really stupid ideas that are more crack than serious.**

* * *

**_First Contact_**

"What are they doing?" General Brutus asked himself as he watched the small human entourage stand resolutely on the small hill in the middle of the empty dry plain. It just screamed a trap to him but his scouts had detected nary a scent of any other humans nearby and he had already tested the space between them for mines and found nothing.

So unless there were humans hiding behind the pebbles and the grass; it was no trap. More likely it was the humans looking to parlay. With no threat in sight; he didn't mind parleying for the surrender of the human military forces on the planet. It would save him the trouble of having to beat them all into submission.

So it was with great pride that he went to meet the human general; a short man with an oversized collar that reached up far past his neck. A puffy cigar kept tightly in his mouth by his lips. His own guard kept their guns trained on the humans, who hadn't disarmed, watching for any traps.

"So, human. I assume you want to negotiate the terms of surrender." General Brutus asked them. What else could there be; he had beaten the human forces decisively upon landing and had simply just broken their will to fight.

"Indeed." The human general said. He then took another long whiff of his cigar before breathing out a long plume of grey smoke at the Turians. "I expect you unconditional surrender as of now. Refuse and you and all your troops will be annihilated."

The Turian General's mandibles twitched uncontrollably as he tried not to laugh at the human. Was all that smoke from his cigar getting to him? Him? Surrender? "Are you joking? I have you surrounded!"

"Us? Surrounded? Look again." The human confidently said as he pointed behind him. Playing along; Brutus turned to look at what the human was pointing at and felt his jaw drop at the sight.

Stepping out from behind the small pebbles were hundreds of meter high monstrosities that bore arm guns the size of small ships at that. And if that wasn't enough; thousands of human soldiers were now stepping out from behind the shadows of his own troops, rendering the Turians now surrounded.

"Don't move Xenos." He heard a cold voice say over his shoulder. He felt the cold end of a gun placed onto his exposed neck; at this range his kinetic barriers wouldn't activate and he'd be dead in an instant.

"H…How?" General Brutus hesitantly whispered. This was impossible! There was no realistic manner in which his own army could have been surrounded like this!

"They came out of our holsters sir!" his captain told him before there was a grunt of pain as the human holding him hostage pushed his gun in harder to his neck. Spirits! How did they…

"This should be impossible… something like this must have taken some sort of tactical genius…" his captain kept blabbering on despite the human breathing down his neck.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the human general sport of sudden smile before it was then obscured in another plume of cigar smoke.

* * *

**Again sorry for the very late update**


	4. Imperial Guard

**I'm not sure about this but here I go anyway. I personally wanted to use Stubbs or Alexander but the problem in that was that they were both Planetary Governors alongside being a General. So I find it highly unlikely that they would be venturing out. That being said; I also liked the Imperial Guards in DOWII:Retribution, especially Castor's metal bawkses and so there we are. Would also like to note now that I probably don't do well at writing battle scenes.**

* * *

"By the Emperor, what is this?" Lord Admiral Krasus softly asked himself as he beheld the sight before him. A moderate naval engagement was occurring in the space before his Battlefleet; unknown ships of all forms firing and destroying each other. Debris was everywhere in orbit as defeated ships were destroyed and their parts scattered. But those were only insignificant concerns compared to the beautiful planet that the battle was taking place over.

Not a single loyal man or woman in the entirety of Imperium has not heard of Holy Terra, the Throne-world of the Imperium of Man and the original home world of all Man. Like any other servant of the Emperor; he had seen the pictures of Holy Terra. And that world was almost an exact replica of the graceful throne world of the Emperor.

But… it was incomplete. Where was the glorious Imperial Palace that supposedly covered nearly the entirety of the northern hemisphere? Where was the millions of massive hive cities that should dot Holy Terra? Where was the unimaginable fleet that safeguarded the home world from all threats?

"Ship Master Milluis… vox Inquisitor Adrastia; ask her to come to the bridge." He briefly commanded the Ship's Master of the Strictest Purpose, his flagship and personal battleship. The Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus, with the resources and knowledge of the Ordo Hereticus, would be better equipped to shed light on this discovery. For he truly had no idea of how to take in a copy of Holy Terra. Was it inhabited by humans? If so then why have they never contacted the Imperium?

It was when he failed to hear the usual prompt reply and salute from Millius that he turned to face the Ship's Master and found him still staring at what might be Holy Terra with childish awe clear in his eyes. "Ship's Master Millius! Call for the Inquisitor!"

At the much louder prompt, Millius reluctantly broke out his trance and tore his eyes away from the planet. Down below; Krasus heard several of his crewmen also scramble out of their trance and return to their posts at the sound of the Lord Admiral's commanding voice.

"Yes Sir! My apologies for the delay sir!" the Ship Master loudly said as he finally slammed a salute before moving off to vox the Inquisitor. The Lord Admiral chose to forgive his crew's lapse in concentration. It was not every day that one could set eyes upon what might be Holy Terra; in fact, citizens of the Imperium never do see the ancestral home world of the human race.

"Lord Admiral! We're picking up communications from the ships!" one of the officers shouted out from below. Lord Admiral Krasus frowned at the lack of details on what ship exactly was sending over the communications but he supposed that it couldn't be helped. He couldn't identify any of the small ships, on both sides, either. For such large numbers of ships; he did wonder why both sides seemed to only employ destroyers and frigates.

"Put it on screen." He ordered and immediately a large screen appeared before him. On the image was a human in a blue military uniform he had never seen before. Unlike the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Navy was much more uniform and organized as a single organization. So; there shouldn't be any massive deviations such as the uniform the human on screen was wearing.

"This is Admiral Hackett of the Systems Alliance Navy. Unknown Fleet identify yourself." The man tiredly spoke out in Low Gothic. The Lord Admiral narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the words; much was said from the fact he spoke the common language of the Imperium.

"This is Lord Admiral Krasus, Battlefleet Korianis of the Imperium of Man. I would be most interested in knowing how this planet looks just like Holy Terra." Krasus responded. Taking note of his Ship's Master returning to his side with a slight nod towards the door. Without even turning his head; he knew who had just entered the bridge. The hushed silence in the bridge was more than enough of an indication.

"Interesting. I've never heard of this Systems Alliance." Inquisitor Adrastia said in a cold voice which could send freezing shivers up a man's spine. Krasus easily let her take a place beside him; he was perfectly fine with her having the same standing as him even within his fleet. He knew well enough that even someone with a rank like his doesn't challenge the Inquisition without dire consequences.

"And I have never heard of this Imperium." Admiral Hackett replied warily. The Systems Alliance Admiral then turned away from them and shouted out orders; fleet orders Krasus realized from the obvious naval jargon. It was then with a resigned look that he turned back to them and pleaded for their aid. "Look… I don't know how or why you're here. But we could really use the help defending Earth."

"Earth did you say?" The Inquisitor asked the System's Alliance admiral with piqued interest. The Lord Admiral too was interested in this; if the ancient records were correct then that was the name of Holy Terra before the Emperor unified the planet under his name. A planet that looked just like Holy Terra and shared the identical names. That could not just be a mere coincidence.

"Yes. That's the planet we're defending now." Admiral Hackett answered cautiously as he caught onto the way they reacted to the name.

"Well of course then. We cannot let Earth be overtaken by xenos now can we?" Inquisitor Adrastia replied amiably. Krasus glanced at her in surprise before resigning himself to the inevitable battle she was setting him up for. As an Inquisitor, she had the rights to commandeer any Imperial forces she liked; so he would be serving under her willing or otherwise.

"Thank you. The entire Systems Alliance will be thankful for this." Admiral Hackett replied followed by a sigh. Evident relief was clear in his tone as the channel between them was then closed.

"Lord Admiral. I assume that you can deal with the xenos invaders." The Inquisitor told him as she turned away to leave. The cold chillness leaving him as the Inquisitor got further away from him.

"And what shall you be doing?" Krasus asked the Inquisitor. He would have thought she would stay on the bridge and observe the battle. That and also wait just in case that System's Alliance Admiral came calling again.

The Inquisitor paused in her walking and slowly turned around to face him. There was a collective pause of breathing in the room and Krasus feared that perhaps he had overstepped. "I shall be investigating our circumstances."

"Of course." The Lord Admiral replied with false calm. His relief hidden behind an impassive poker face.

"Oh. And could you pass on to the Lord General that I want him to secure a landing on the planet." The Inquisitor made a passing request as she left the bridge. It wasn't until a full minute had passed since the door closed that his crew finally started breathing normally again.

"Ship Master?" The Lord Admiral turned to Millius. The man was now quite a distance away from him now and he grimly thought of why he had placed a suspicious gap between him. The blasted Inquisitor and her aura of dread.

"I'll get to it sir." The Ship Master saluted as he turned to get to the vox.

* * *

"Sergeant Major, are the men prepared to make landing." Lord General Castor asked Sergeant Major Merrick of the 304th Cadian Shock Troopers. The rest of the men in the Valkyrie had their heads down but it was clear to the Lord General that they were trying to listen in without it being too obvious.

"Their ready sir." Merrick answered tersely from his seat opposite of the Lord General. His trademark Mark XXXV Magnacore Pattern plasma gun resting just slightly above his legs. The green war paint on his face was now hidden behind the standard Cadian helmet he now wore.

"Good. Perhaps they can redeem themselves for their poor performance in Aurelia." The Lord General said with a snort. Merrick grip on his gun trembled only slightly so before his rigid discipline, instilled in him on Cadia, kicked pack in. Castor had all the appearance of an arrogant incompetent commander and if he didn't know better…

"Of course sir." The Sergeant Major said loudly, giving a good look at the rest of the men who chose that moment to duck their heads back down. Aurelia had been a huge mess with just about every Xenos coming to take a shot at the Sub-sector. And if that wasn't enough, Chaos chose that moment to join in with Kyras at their head.

In the end, it had been the Imperial Guard, with Lord General Castor at its head, which had repelled all Xenos invaders, eliminated the Chaos threat, stopped Kyras's 'ascension' and called off the Exterminatus fleet and thus saving what was left of the Sub-sector. Kyras had been ready for many things; but he never saw the bludgeoning hammer of the Imperium until it was too late.

Of course the Blood Ravens got all the credit for the work of the Guard though. The Space Marines always did that. Swooping in at the last moment and stealing all the moments of glory. Bloody magpies…

Still… Castor had proven that he was in fact skilled at war and while he was a huge ass; he was at least competent and honest about it. Got him a nice medal for his work in Aurelia too. Though it would mean piss nothing when he gets himself killed one day.

"We're nearing the LZ. Get ready." The naval pilot of the Valkyire said as he navigated his way through the ruins of the planet Earth. He didn't really understand why they were helping this Systems Alliance fight for their planet. Or what the heck the enemy was. Essentially; it was just another day then.

"Right then…" the Lord General muttered under his breath as the Valkyrie stopped shaking and the back latch was beginning to open. Sunlight shining into the hold of the Valkyrie alongside the easily recognisable sounds of men fighting and dying. "For the Emperor!"

"For the Emperor!" the rest of the men echoed their commander as they charged out of the latch. Sprinting out and finding the nearest cover behind some debris, Merrick spotted several other Valkyries letting off Guardsmen who rushed to reinforce soldiers in unknown armour who he presumed was the System Alliance troops. Seeing as though they gave nothing but a few surprised glances; they must have been expecting them.

The position they were in wasn't too bad either. It was one large plaza with a big half destroyed building at the rear. The entrance points were also limited to a single street and perhaps the buildings; assuming the enemy could crawl through all that rubble.

"Alright men! Form a perimeter around this building! Block up that street! The enemy surely saw us coming, so we don't have much time!" Castor shouted out loudly into his vox. He didn't need to say more as the Cadians moved and started to do so. A few sliding into place beside him in cover. There was then a pause in the Lord Commander's hollowing as the first of the enemy came into the view. That was a swifter response that they had anticipated and… by the Emperor; were they a monstrosity.

It was a mutant. But instead of disgusting flesh disfigurations; it was as if the entire thing was a horrid mix of machine and man. Lines of blue light replaced where its veins should be and it was howling like a banshee as it charged towards them. He was sure that the Tech Priest would have a field day with the things.

The head of the first thing in line exploded. Its body launched back a few meters and slamming into even more of the things. A thin trail of smoke was visible over the Lord Commander's sniper which he wielded with his one mechanical arm. "There. I've got one. I expect every man to have gotten at least several times that by the first hour!"

The Sergeant Major grunted in annoyance as he popped out of his cover. There coming down the broken street was a huge mass of the things now. He was sure that he could take a pot shot and probably hit one. Still training kicked in and he looked closer at the mob as the rest of the men started firing. A wave of red lasers impacting onto the rabble.

As the xenos started getting blasted apart by the concentrated fire of the lasguns; Merrick homed in on one particular xenos at the back of the mass. It was different to the others and seemed to be passing on orders to the rest. That was more than enough reason for Merrick to take him down.

A glowing blue blast discharged from the plasma gun and Merrick felt the ache on his shoulders from the recoil. Ducking himself back down into cover, he then peeked back over just in time to see the leader burst into pieces with an odd mixture of 'blood' and machine. There was a grunt of satisfaction from him at the bloody sight.

"Well done on killing what appears to be their leader Sergeant Major." The fop voice of the Lord Commander said from beside him. Predictably the man himself knelt down in cover beside him now. Merrick ignored him and fingered one of this frag grenades. With a flick of his arm; it was sent sailing into the quickly thinning horde.

"Holy shit but you guys are cleaning up!" Turning his head, Castor found himself staring at the face of an awed soldier. Looking further down; he saw that his regalia was unlike any Cadian regiments he recognised nor was his gun the standard M36 Kantreal Pattern Lasgun that was the standard issued weapon of Cadia.

"And who exactly are you?" The Lord General asked with some curiosity. He suspected that he belonged to the Systems Alliance though his lack of curiosity onto their appearance was odd.

"Private Neilson, System's Alliance 45th Marine Division." The young soldier did a swift gesture with some pride. He assumed that it was a salute of some sort. And his suspicion appeared to be a correct one. Huzzah for him. "What section do you guys belong to?"

"304th Cadian Shock Troopers. We're not System's Alliance." Merrick suddenly answered offhandedly from behind him. The Sergeant Major appeared to now be properly reloading the charge to his gun and likely found himself with nothing else to do.

"He was asking me Merrick." Castor lightly chastised as he took the opportunity to survey the situation. The enemy were clearly not of the strong sort given how easily they were torn apart by Lasgun fire. That they used a massed wave charge against them didn't help them either. A poor show indeed.

"Sorry sir." Merrick apologised without any real meaning placed behind it. Castor could probably count the number of true and honest apologies from the Sergeant Major on a single hand.

"Wha-?" Private Neilson started. It appears he was not informed of the Imperium's sudden alliance with the System's Alliance and was confused with their unit designation. No matter; he couldn't care less what happened to the Private or what the young man thought of them.

"Engineers! I want a proper defence set up. Heavy Weapons Teams! Find a good position to cover the main street. 2nd and 3rd Squads! I want you to do a perimeter sweep of all the enterable buildings in the plaza. Any entrances are to be blocked off." Castor relayed his orders; half with shouting and half with his personal short range vox… No… It was mostly shouting. It seemed to have a better effect at invigorating the men.

"So… what's this Cadian thing? And are those laser guns?" Private Neilson gushed over the Sergeant Major who gave him an annoyed glare. When the boy refused to leave; he sighed and resigned himself to answering.

"Cadia's our home planet. And yeah, it's is a laser gun. Don't you have those here?" Merrick said with little enthusiasm. He didn't really want to become friends with the locals. Odds were that they would be shipped out when their done and they would never see each other again. Why waste the effort of making friends outside of the regiment.

"No way! If we did; we would be kicking Reaper ass!" The Private replied.

"Reapers? Those things?" Merrick jerked a thumb at the smouldering mess they had made of the machine monsters. They didn't seem all that threatening to him. Though everything would seem puny in comparison to facing off against a Daemon Prince; even if you did have a huge army and a Baneblade behind you.

"Yeah. Pretty tough buggers. That charge you took apart was the biggest group I've seen in a while" The Private said, oblivious to the disdain that Merrick had. Merrick took another look at the Reapers… we're they really that strong or was this System's Alliance just that weak?

"Really? This might just be a cakewalk compared our other combat missions then." One of the other Guardsman interjected into the conversation. A primed Lasgun lay easily within the Guardsman's arm reach.

"What? Your other missions involves zombies?" The Private asked them in disbelief. If the boy thought these Reapers were terrifying then he would shit his pants when he saw the Chaos Astartes and their Daemon pets. Now those were terrifiying.

"Oh you have no idea…" Merrick sarcastically replied with a shake of his head at the naivety of the boy. Daemons, Traitor Astartes, Orks, Eldar, Tyranids. If those walking target monsters were all the Reapers had going for them then they were pretty small fry compared to the other horror's he's faced.

"You serious?" Private Neilson asked them for confirmation. Just to know that these strange soldiers were not playing around with him with tall tales. When he was returned by the completely serious faces of the Imperial Guards did he ask another question. "How do you survive?!"

"Who said anything about surviving? Most don't make it through their first combat. Won't matter though, there's always replacements for us. A Guardsman's life is to die after all." Merrick quoted the Lord Commander. And as much as he hated that statement; it was depressingly true. Unless there was another Black Crusade in the outing, then he didn't expect to see Cadia ever again.

The System's Alliance went silent for a moment as he pondered the thought of facing things worse than the Husks every day of his life until he died. He shuddered at the nightmares. "Wow… How the hell do you deal with this shit all time then?"

"With a Lasgun and balls of Adamantium made from Mars itself." Merrick offered with a grunt. He earned a few chuckles from the other Guardsmen who were close enough to hear his remark. Finished with his Plasma gun, Merrick got back up and strode over to the Lord Commander who was quickly hurrying to some commotion near one of the buildings. Seems like they found something.

"Well, Sergeant Major. Best to see what's going on; eh?" Castor said as he pushed through the throng of Guardsmen from the 2nd Squad. The commotion seemed to be down near the centre and there was an audible sound of a woman.

"Yessir." Merrick dutifully said as he hefted the plasma gun in his arms. The woman's shrieks were growing louder now and if this was what Merrick thought it was… then someone was going to find themselves in a lot of pain soon.

"What appears to be the problem trooper?" Castor calmly asked as he finally entered the small clearing in the centre. Stopping by his side, Merrick leaned out and spotted a xenos that was held tightly in the grip of a Guardsman who in turn was held at gun point by a System's Alliance soldier. The sight of the xenos revolted him beyond words. It looked like a human woman except that it was a shade of blue and with weird tentacle things instead of natural hair.

"I caught this xenos trying to sneak into the perimeter through one of the buildings sir." The Guardsman reported to the Lord General. A Lasgun was placed down on the back of the head of the xenos and it looked like he was just barely restraining himself from shooting.

"Please! I was just trying to get away from the Husks." The xenos pleaded with him. Merrick narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the speech. The humans here speaking Low Gothic was one thing. But random xenos speaking it as well?

"This bastard here is trying to execute a civilian." The System's Alliance soldier spoke up angrily. His own odd gun was pressed harder into the unprotected nape of the Guardsman. That he was also facing 8 other Lasguns trained on him didn't seem to lessen his resolve to save this filthy xenos any less.

"She's an alien!" The Guardsman holding the xenos justified himself. And in Merrick's opinion; that was a good enough reason to shoot her and be done with it. Even if the xenos didn't mean harm didn't it wouldn't come back to hurt them later. It might even bring some its friends with it too.

"And!?" The System's Alliance soldier rebuked. Given his proximity; the man was pretty much spitting onto the Guardsman he was holding up. Yet amidst his bravado; there were cautious glances to all the guns trained on him and a simple pull away from ending his own life.

The Lord General stayed silent for a moment. Knowing Castor; he was probably mulling over how to best resolve this. Whether it ended peacefully or with three bloody corpses was up to him. "Calm down Gentlemen. Trooper stand down. You too."

"But sir-"The Guardsman tried to protest as his Lasgun trembled over the head of the xenos. He was then cut off by Castor.

"Allow me to teach you something Guardsman. The Imperium is already beset on all sides by enemies and we do not need to go out of our way to make more of them just yet. So Stand DOWN!" Castor started off quietly before escalating to a full demand to the offending Guardsman. His own sword was now out in his hand now and it was directed towards the Guardsman in a threatening manner.

"…Yessir." The Guardsman reluctantly obeyed. His Lasgun lowering from the xenos's head while the blue xenos scrambled away on all fours. The rest of the squad stepped away to make room for the alien to escape and there was more than just a few wary and hateful glances sent towards it.

"Thank you…" The System's Alliance soldier quietely said as he slowly tried to back away out of the group. His escape was cut off by the Cadians who didn't budge to let him pass by. Once again they found themselves staring at each other though, thank the Emperor, they weren't preparing to shoot each other again.

"Lord General! There's a vox for you from the Inquisitor!" The Guardsman with the vox caster suddenly spoke up. Holding out the communicator; Castor gruffly took it from his hands and listened while making another one of his off comments. "Hmm… and what would Adrastia want this time?"

Right… he had tried to forget that the bitch of an Inquisitor was aboard the Strictest Purpose. He couldn't imagine that she was just calling the Lord General for mere pleasantries. And if she was going to join them again then he was going to bloody find himself another squad to attach himself to. The Inquisitor's last words to him on Cyrene shadowed over him like a knife.

"Well I guess that changes everything." Castor announced as he carefully handed back the communicator. He then did another flourish with his blade, the deadly blade swinging dangerously close to them.

"Changes what sir?" The Sergeant Major tentatively asked the Lord Commander. Castor was a man that preferred the direct method of approaching things, warfare and otherwise. It was unlike him to be ambiguous on things.

"Why, we will have to do this." Castor calmly said as he took a sudden step towards the System's Alliance soldier who was in the process of turning back around. With a swift slash, Castor snipped the man's head off his shoulders, drawing nary a drop of blood on his blade. His coat wasn't as lucky as crimson blood spurted out from beheaded body.

"My apologies. But orders are orders." Castor apologized without much emotion as he let the body collapse onto the ground. He then turned to face his surprised squad before giving the orders he wanted fulfilled. "To all Imperial forces, any non-Imperial personnel are to be considered hostile including the indigenous humans. Any humans that surrenders are to be taken prisoner while any who resist are to be shot."

As soon as the vox finished, sounds of renewed fighting sparked. Though this time it was absent of the inhuman screams of the Reapers and was replaced by a sound Merrick was all too familiar with: the dying screams of man. "I thought you said the Imperium didn't need more enemies, sir."

"That I did Sergeant Major." The Lord Commander affirmed for him as he casually walked back to the main defences. There were some human bodies littering the area now and not all of them were System's Alliance.

"So why did we…?" Merrick started to ask before being but off by Castor.

"The Inquisitor's orders. You'll be hearing the reason why soon enough." Castor interjected his Sergeant Major. Of bloody course it was the Inquisitor's orders. Whenever something like this happens, it was always the Inquisitors fault.

"So we don't have a choice?" Merrick surmised. The powers of the Inquisitors included being able to conscript any necessary Imperial assets to accomplish their task. This stretched from the humblest of Guardsmen to the mightiest of the Space Marines. And while it was rumoured the latter could get away with not obeying; he wasn't a Space Marine. He was just a single man.

"We always have a choice Merrick. It's just that one promises probably death while the other is certain death." Castor slowly said with deliberate words. Once again; the Lord General had an uncanny knack for putting the depressing truths to words.

"Fair enough sir; we don't have much of a choice then." Merrick reworded his question with resignation. He didn't even know why he was even having this discussion.

"That we don't Sergeant Major. That we don't."

* * *

"Lord Admiral Krasus! I'm getting several reports that your ship has been firing upon ours. What is the meaning of this?!" Admiral Hackett nearly screamed into the comm, his face drooping from severe sleep deprivation and the stress from his heavy duty. And as if the huge Reaper armada beating down Earth wasn't enough; it now looked like their sudden allies were now turning on them.

"SSV Omaha was just destroyed by another Imperium ship, sir!" one if junior officers reported from below. The report was followed by a measure of black curses. That 'Inquisitor had promised that their fleet would aid them defend Earth but now it seems her words meant nothing.

"Lord Admiral Krasus respo-" he started to try to raise the massive Imperial ship again before being interrupted.

"I'm sorry Admiral. But I have my orders." was the terse reply he received from the Imperium's Lord Admiral. Hackett felt cold sweat drip down his back at the confirmation. So that was it? The Systems Alliance would have to weather the Reapers and the Imperiums fleet.

The Reapers were already more numerous and advanced compared to the Systems Alliance with bigger ships and bigger guns. And the Imperium trumped the Reapers in both of those and could that cut apart Reaper ships like a knife through butter. Between them both...

"Admiral Hackett! A broad signal is being sent from the Imperium flagship." The operator shouted out loudly.

"Play it." Hackett immediately ordered. He had to somehow persuade them to stop attacking the System's Alliance. Play up the Reaper threat and get them to focus on them for now. He had to do something to preserve the System's Alliance!

"This is Lord Admiral Krasus of Battlefleet Karenia to all those that can hear this message. Upon review of the System's Alliance history by Inquisitor Andrastia of the Ordos Hereticus; the System's Alliance is not under the Imperium of Mans banner and is thus an independent nation." Hackett felt a building dread at the words. He already had an inkling of where this was going to lead to.

"As such, the Imperium of Man now declares war against the Systems Alliance and all those that would defend it. We lay claim to their planet of Earth and all affiliated colonies in the Emperor's name. Any humans who surrender and accept the Imperial truth shall be spared. Any that resists shall face the hammer and shield of the Imperium."

* * *

**I personally feel that my very brief battle was pretty weak and that there wasn't enough mention of the Emprah. Also Regarding the Ork chapter I'm still unsure of how it should be written. As in:**

Gorgutz 'ead 'unter smashed da puny 'umie ovah and ovah again on da 'eavy rock wit all da gor and gutz waz spillin outta da body.

**Or:**

Gorgutz 'ead 'unter smashed the puny human over and over again on the heavy rock with all the gore and guts spilling out of the body.

**I kind of want people's opinion in which one would be better. Since the first is clearly more realistic from an Orks POV but hard to read for all you unOrky people while the second is more readable but less… Orky.**


End file.
